The Douglass girls ran off the court and down the State Fair Arena tunnel, but a throng of friends and family summoned them back for a curtain call. Soon, the team reemerged, albeit briefly, as the players disappeared into the middle of a mass celebration.

More and more Trojans joined the pile, relishing the long-awaited moment.

Douglass recorded its first state basketball tournament win since 1992, beating Inola 66-40 Thursday morning in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

Latesha Woods, Douglass’ first-year head coach, watched the postgame mayhem from the top of the steps in the bowels of The Big House.

Woods took over a team that won three games last season. Now, Douglass is headed to the state semifinals in its first state tournament appearance since 2012.

“It’s history that the girls are hungry to make,” Woods said. “It’s big for them. They’ve been working extremely hard just to bring back the legacy.”

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Douglass boys basketball has long been a powerhouse, winning 11 state championships, including one last season, since 1984.

The boys have made 45 state tournament appearances to the girls’ six.

The girls have twice made the state championship game (1983, 1992), but they’ve never won the gold ball.

“I don’t know what it’s been missing because I wasn’t there,” Woods said, “but I know having an extremely great boys program, I know that it helps us strive to get there … At the end of the day, having two good programs is the goal.”

Woods was hired by Douglass after her successful stint at Harding Charter Prep.

She cited Douglass’ support system and investment into the program as the reasons behind her move.

“Bringing in anybody new, it’s very territorial,” Woods said. “Especially with the kind of coaching style I have, I could’ve made it, or I could’ve broke it. It takes the support system, the backing, just to get everybody to trust into the process.”

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Some of her best players at Harding Charter followed Woods to Douglass — a key element to the Trojans’ rapid turnaround.

N’Kiyah Burge, a Harding Charter transfer, had a dominant 24-point, 15-rebound double-double against Inola. Kiara Smith, another Harding Charter transfer, scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

“We know we have a great coach, that’s why we followed our coach,” Burge said. “Her getting back this program, picking it back up, it’s amazing.”

Burge and Smith said they feel at home at Douglass despite being new to the school.

“You could really tell right there, how they stormed over here, that they’re really behind us,” Smith said. “That’s all you need.”

No matter what happens next, against top-ranked Bethany, the Douglass girls have laid a foundation.

Their performance was worthy of a curtain call.

“Even though we’re not done,” Burge said, “this is a celebration.”

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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Latesha Woods, Douglass girls basketball team end decades-long drought